Gaza Herald – About 473,000 Palestinians have streamed back into northern Gaza since the October 10 ceasefire, the UN says, only to find their neighborhoods leveled, basic services erased, and lifesaving supplies nowhere to be found. Returnees are sheltering in shattered homes, hauling water by hand, and living amid unexploded ordnance that turns every street into a death trap.
The scale of destruction is staggering: vast swaths of the coastal enclave are now a wasteland after Israel’s two-year assault that has killed more than 68,500 Palestinians.
Families coming home confront ruined water systems, gutted hospitals, empty markets, and severe shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies, conditions aid agencies warn are driving a fast-deepening humanitarian catastrophe.
Rights groups and a UN commission of inquiry have accused Israel of committing genocide during the campaign; Israeli authorities reject those charges.
Humanitarian officials say the immediate priority is unrestricted entry of heavy machinery, fuel and massive daily aid convoys so search-and-rescue, body recovery and emergency care can proceed before winter makes the toll immeasurably worse.
